Front Page News

By Lynn Janes

On August 20, 2026, the commission had a regular meeting at the city annex building. Jacqui Olea, interim town manager, called the meeting to order.

The board approved the agenda for the meeting and minutes from July 23, 2026.

New business

Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments director, said they had a power point presentation ready for the NMFA (New Mexico Finance Authority) legislative oversight committee meeting in Alamogordo on September 2, 2026. She, Laura Phelps, Community Development Manager, Freeport McMoRan, and Alex Brown would be doing the presentation. She wanted others to join in the presentation for the support. Mayor Arnold Lopez, Santa Clara, said Sheila Hudman, village administrator would be attending. Raymond De la Vega, Stantec, said he would be attending. Olea, Bayard representative and Hurley representative will also be attending.

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a special meeting August 18, 2026. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith, Nicholas Prince (phone), Stan Snider (phone), Victor Nanez and Angela Salaiz.

The council approved the agenda.

New business

The council approved a public celebration permit for the Piano Room Jazz night on August 29, 2026, in the El Sol Theater. The Little Toad Creek will be the license holder. Jacqui Olea, interim town manager, said it had been vetted by all staff and did not have any objections. Snider had a few comments. He thought it would be good to have these events downtown and hoped to see the piano bar do well. He also referred to a timeline they set at the meeting in July of 25 days before an event for the application to come in. This did not fit that guideline. Olea provided some clarification. Since the process had been changed not all the businesses had been made aware of the expedited process would no longer be done. It has caused some confusion.

Allegations of county dumping debris in "Turkey Creek" have two sides to the story

By Mary Alice Murphy

Lewis Mitchell of Buckhorn has alleged twice in public input at the Grant County Commission at the Tuesday work session and at today's Regular meeting (Sept. 10, 2026) that the county has dumped debris in "Turkey Creek," which flows into the Gila River.

He alleged that chunks of concrete and asphalt from the renovation of the ballfields in Cliff were dumped into "Turkey Creek."

[Author's Note: The creek in that area is Duck Creek, not Turkey Creek - wrong bird.]

September 8, 2026 — Sixth Judicial District Attorney Norman R. Wheeler announced that 35-year-old Navarre Gulick is being held without bond after being charged with Kidnapping, a 1st Degree Felony, Criminal Sexual Penetration (Child under 13), a 1st Degree Felony, Criminal Sexual Contact of a Minor (Child under 13), a 2nd Degree Felony,  Criminal Sexual Contact of a Minor (Child under 13), a 3rd Degree Felony, Bribery of a Witness, a 3rd Degree Felony, and Abuse of a Child, a 3rd Degree Felony .

Chief Deputy District Attorney George Zsoka represented the State during the pretrial detention hearing. The Honorable Judge Tom Stewart of the Sixth Judicial District Court presided and granted the State's Motion for Pretrial Detention. Judge Stewart determined that Gulick poses a danger and that there are no conditions that the Court can reasonably impose that will assure the safety of the victim and the community.

By Mary Alice Murphy

At the Sept. 8, 2026 Grant County Commission work session, a number of speakers at public input spoke in opposition of a data center in Grant County.

The data center is proposed by Site Layer 1 LLC for a site located in the 30,000-acre Hurt Ranch. The site is about 11 miles from Hachita in the boot heel of New Mexico.

It is proposed to be constructed on private property. A legal notice was issued that indicates the facility would generate its own electricity using 32 natural-gas-fired generations, which are estimated to provide generating capacity of about 300.8 megawatts.

Site Layer 1 LLC is a foreign Limited-Liability company, which filed in New Mexico Feb. 4, 2026 and is listed as active with the New Mexico Corporations Division.

According to this article in Demingnews.com: https://demingnews.com/index.php/2026/09/08/proposed-data-center-near-playas-new-mexico/, a New York based investment firm, Corner, with a Domestic Jurisdiction of Delaware, has connections to Site Layer 1 LLC and also has other operations in Asia and the Middle East.

Concerns presented at the Commission meeting included potential for contamination of the groundwater, as water is generally needed to cool such operations. The groundwater underneath the property comes from the Hachita Basin, which extends into Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties. Such a data center allegedly could use as much a 6,535 acre-feet of water annually. Other issues raised were air pollution, noise and impacts on wildlife and humans. 

It has been reported that Site Layer I LLC plans to submit an air-quality permit application to the NM Environment Department's Air Quality Bureau by Oct. 1, so no final air-quality permit or construction approval has been awarded.

At this point in the project, not enough information on size or number of buildings, proposed engines, number of jobs, potential emissions or environmental impacts or controls can be determined until the proposal is further filled out through its requests for permits and approvals.

​​Jesus Antonio Pedregon

Silver City, NM –September 8, 2026, District Attorney Norman R. Wheeler announced today that 30-year-old Jesus Pedregon has been held without bond after being charged with Aggravated Fleeing a Law Enforcement Officer (No injury or great bodily harm) a fourth-degree felony, Possession of Stolen Vehicles or Motor Vehicle, a fourth-degree felony and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Sixth Judicial Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Vega represented the State during the hearing. The presiding judge was the Honorable Tom F. Stewart of the Sixth Judicial District Court.

August 24, 2026, US Marshal's officers located and identified fugitive Jesus Pedregon at a rest stop on US 180 as the driver of a stolen gold in color Toyota Camry with no license plate.

By Mary Alice Murphy

At this morning's, Sept. 8, 2026, Grant County Commission work session, County Assessor Misty Trujillo said that every county in the state is having an issue with the New Mexico Department of Finance."We, each year, send our property valuations to the Property Tax Division," Trujillo said. "This year they were sent in June. Property Tax Division will then send our values to the Department of Finance (DFA), then DFA will submit the final rates to the Assessor’s office. We do not set the rates; we set the valuations. The state sets the rates for counties, municipalities, school bonds and such."

This year, the DFA sent back the valuations and tax rates for the assessors to double-check. Trujillo made the comment: "I feel like they should pay us this year for doing their job."She apologized that she may not have the tax rates ready for Commission approval at the Thursday meeting but will try her best! Because of having to correct many errors that were provided to her. 

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

The Silver City Art Association's 2026 Red Dot Studio Tour took place over the weekend of Labor Day all over Silver City from downtown studios to ones north and west of downtown.

These photos were taken in the downtown area. The first six were in Light Art Space. This photographer then traveled around in the downtown area. Next was the Silver Tie Dye Company studio, followed by the Grant County Art Guild Studio, where several photos featured individual items and groups of artwork on the walls, all with the theme "Creatures of the Gila." The next stop was Diana Ingalls Leyba's studio where youths were working on a tile project for Penny Park.